Journal of Language and Sexuality - Volume 14, Issue 1, 2025

Abstract

I love you is among the most meaningful utterances in English speakers’ organization of intimacy, yet remains understudied by scholars of language. This article investigates metapragmatic discourse about the first exchange of I love you between romantic partners using data from the social media platform Reddit. The discourse reveals a normative model in which I love you functions not only as an expression of emotion but a speech act that is ideologically constructed as committing the speaker and inviting the listener onto a relationship path that includes monogamy, long-term commitment, and eventually cohabitation and marriage. Normative discourses about and practices surrounding I love you thereby bolster the hypervalorization of romantic relationships, the validation of jealousy and possessiveness as expressions of love, and the naturalization of monogamy and normative Western family structures. Drawing on discourses of polyamory, asexuality, and disability/neurodivergence, we point to alternative possibilities for love’s meaning and expression.

Abstract

The research focuses on the construction of gay identity in political speech, with particular attention to Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay US presidential candidate. During Buttigieg’s 2020 Presidential campaign, his sexuality received significant attention and sparked controversial reactions. This study employs the combination of Corpus Linguistics (CL) and Discourse Analysis as a fruitful approach for analyzing the formation of identity through language. By combining CL with qualitative inquiries, the study highlights the benefits of triangulation and cross-fertilization of methods that are typically used in isolation. The focus corpus, utilized for identifying keywords and major thematic groups, consists of excerpts from Buttigieg’s political speeches and interviews. Furthermore, the study employs Co-cultural theory to examine the communicative strategies used by Buttigieg in his LGBTQ+-specific political discourses. Buttigieg’s strategies include Emphasizing Commonalities, Mirroring, Communicating Self, Dispelling Stereotypes, Dissociating, and Increasing Visibility, each representing different approaches to identity construction through language. In addition to shedding light on the unique aspects of gay identity construction in political discourse, this research contributes to a better understanding of the electorate’s dissatisfaction with Buttigieg’s campaign, especially among non-heteronormative individuals.

Abstract

This research used online focus group discussions involving five Thai transgender participants and participants with various gender identities and sexuality to examine Thai transgender people’s articulations of gender, sexuality and senses of themselves. English was used as a lingua franca (ELF). A poststructuralist discourse analysis was used. The results illustrated that most Thai transgender participants were willing to articulate their genders and sexuality in a friendly and polite environment in intercultural communication. However, individual differences were found while initially articulating gender and sexuality over time in the same group discussion. In addition, the friendly and polite situational environment could trigger them to articulate more information regarding their gender and sexuality. Moreover, the five Thai transgender participants revealed their powerfulness as the self-identification of Thai transgender people in discourses, whereas their powerlessness was exposed in the theme of mental and social care.

Abstract

This article examines Brazil’s LGBTQIA+ Inclusive Churches movement, focusing on the online discourse of the Igreja Cristã Contemporânea (“Contemporary Christian Church”), supposedly the country’s most welcoming religious space for LGBTQIA+ individuals. Employing a Foucauldian Critical Discourse Analysis, it studies how the church’s discourse can help naturalize normative ideas of LGBTQIA+ identities. Data is retrieved from the church’s website, a series of eight YouTube videos, and their comment sections. Results indicate that despite welcoming LGBTQIA+ believers and acting as an inclusive religious space, the church follows prescriptive behaviors rooted in cis-het and homonormativity. Regardless of its LGBTQIA+ positive self-representation and ingroup affirmation approach, the church propagates a “queer” discourse embedded in traditional beliefs toward sexual relationships and practices, marriage, and parochial obedience.

Abstract

Until recently, queer sexuality has been on the periphery of African literary imaginations. Studies on queer sexuality have paid attention to its representations on social media, Nollywood movies, and the Nigerian print media, with scarce attention to how contemporary literary texts construct queer people’s identity. Therefore, this article presents findings from Jude Dibia’s Walking with Shadows, drawing attention to how language is co-opted to construct gay identity and advance rights advocacy. Using Bucholtz and Hall’s Tactics of Intersubjectivity, the article examines Jude Dibia’s Walking with Shadows, the first coming out novel in Nigeria. The findings reveal that gay people are denied access to the same rights as heterosexuals in Nigeria and mainly encounter obstacles in the construction of their identity. The study offers insights relevant to the study of queer sexuality in African literature and contributes to identity politics in sexuality discourse.

This article reviews Redoing Linguistic Worlds: Unmaking Gender Binaries, Remaking Gender Pluralities

This article reviews Linguistics Out of the Closet: The Interdisciplinarity of Gender and Sexuality in Language Studies